


The Green Zone

by saengie



Category: SS501
Genre: Alternate Universe, Amnesia, Mind fuckery, but not, kind of character death, nothing is what it seems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:01:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21590407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saengie/pseuds/saengie
Summary: Waking up in a world where the rules of life, death, and everything in between are turned on their head and only one person understands what is happening. But he can't remember.
Relationships: Heo Youngsaeng/Kim Kyujong





	The Green Zone

Eyes opened and he was staring down an empty street. There were no cars, no people. It was as if the world was devoid of life. Frowning, he started to move forward. Had to keep his thoughts clear, had to--

"Gang way~!!"

"Wha--?" Whirling around, he caught the barest glimpse of red and silver before something large and metal crashed into him and sent him flying. His head hit the pavement and he tumbled into unconsciousness.

The dull throbbing pain woke him, and his eyes slowly came open. Looking around in confusion he slowly sat up. A dented up bicycle lay at his feet, the wheel bent at an odd angle.

"You okay?" A voice came from the left of him and he slowly looked towards the speaker. Blinking a few times he stared at the man who was seated on the steps of a building.

The first thing he noticed was the bright red hair that was in a tangled disarray. It stuck out at odd angles as if it hadn't been washed or cared for in weeks. His patchworked sweater was too long in one sleeve, but too short on the other and his jeans had seen better days. Black boots were unlaced and the tongue was flopping around as he rocked his feet forward and back from heel to toe.

"I'm.. fine. Who are you?" He groaned, rubbing at the nasty bump on his head. The redhead jumped up from his seat and bounced over to squat down in front of him.

"You're new." He flashed a bright grin at him, wiggling uncontrollably. "I'm Mal."

"Mal? That's an odd name," he said to the redhead who shrugged his shoulders at him.

"It's not really my name, it's just what they call me," came the reply.

"What's your real name then?" He asked in confusion.

"No idea," the redhead shrugged again, still grinning.

"How can you not know your real name?" He said with an odd expression as he tried to stand.

"I just don't," the red head stuck his tongue out and rolled back and over to stand. "If you're so smart, what's your name?"

"It's.." he frowned and trailed off.

"Yeah, it's right there at the tip of your tongue but you just don't know what it is," the red head nodded and started walking down the sidewalk, hands thrust in his pockets. "Come on."

"Where?" He started to trail after him, not sure where he was going.

"To my place," the redhead started to skip and hum to himself.

"What about your bike?" He pointed over his shoulder.

"It's fine," Mal said, not bothering to look back at it.

"Where are we?"

"Hell," the redhead stopped and turned to wait.

"Are.. we dead?" He caught up, not sure why he was following the weird red head, didn't he have something to do?

"I don't think so, but this sure does seem like hell doesn't it?" The red head was swaying back and forth.

"I guess.. you mentioned 'they' are there others here?" He asked, still trying to keep up.

"Yup, they're around here somewhere, I'm sure they're off squabbling somewhere," the redhead crossed the street and headed up the stairs to a building. "This is my place, you can find your own when you want. You can stay here until then."

"How long have you been here?" He asked as he entered the building behind Mal.

"Not sure," Mal shrugged, heading down the long corridor until he reached a door at the end and opened it. "Kind of.. feels like forever, but not at the same time."

The apartment wasn't small, or large, but spacious enough. There were a couple couches in the front room and a hallway that he could only assume led to the bedroom off to the one side. The kitchen was around a corner and he could see a dining table and a couple chairs against a wall.

"It's not much, but it's home, I guess," Mal flopped down on one of the couches and kicked off his boots.

"So how did you get the name Mal then?" He took a seat on the other couch.

"The Ark gave us our names," Mal said, eying him with a pointed look.

"What's the Ark?" He asked, shifting uncomfortably under the stare.

"It's... the Ark, I can take you there, could give you your name at least so we have something to call you," Mal smiled again.

"That's not a bad idea I guess," he nodded and looked towards the door. "Where is it?"

"Not that far, it's pretty much the center of the green zone," Mal started putting his boots back on.

"The green zone?" He blinked at that and started to rise off the couch again.

"You'll see." Mal was moving forward by then, looking him up and down. "You're kind of cute you know, it'll be nice to get you a name, so I know what to say when I'm screaming it later."

Eyes widening, he tried to open his mouth to say something but was cut off by a knock at the door.

"Come in," Mal said, winking slyly at him before turning to the door.

"Mal, have you seen--" A tall man with short brown hair, big eyes, and a large frame opened the door and stepped in. The man stopped and stared, blinking a few times at the newcomer and then turned to Mal. "Who is this?"

"We were just going to the Ark to find out," Mal grinned, taking a few steps towards the one at the door. "This is Leader, or what he's known as anyway. He's kind of a stick in the mud, but that's one of his better qualities." Mal walked around and wrapped his arms around Leader's waist, resting his chin on his shoulder and stared at the newcomer. "Ready to go?"

"I'm not a stick in the mud, you're just obnoxious," Leader elbowed Mal in the stomach who flinched but didn't let go. "If you're going to the green zone, then I'm going with."

"Why?" Mal tilted his head, resting his cheek on Leader's shoulder.

"It's something to do, and I'm tired of looking for that brat," Leader sighed, starting to turn to go out into the hall, Mal still holding on from behind.

"He'll show up, he always does," Mal was waddling, his hips shaking back and forth as he pushed Leader through the corridor. "Come on cutey, keep up!" Mal's voice rang back to the newcomer who was standing rooted to his spot. He shook his head and slowly started to follow.

Back out on the street, Mal had let Leader go and was dancing a little ways ahead, singing off key and flailing about. The newcomer caught up to Leader and started to walk besides him.

"So, I'm guessing you don't know much more than he does," he looked at the man whose expression was set and neutral.

"That's where you're wrong," Leader said, not bothering to look at him.

"Really?" He asked, perking up slightly.

"Yes, he," Leader pointed at Mal who was now walking along the curb like it was a tightrope, "is an idiot, and only good for one thing."

"What's that?" He asked, a little confused.

Leader ignored the question and shook his head. "But if you're going to ask about this place then no, I don't know more than him. We don't know anything other than we're stuck here."

"Stuck how?" They rounded a corner and started heading down hill, the city stretched out before them.

"There's no way out of the city, we've tried," Leader said, pointing towards where the city boundary would be. Instead of large expanses of ground, there was a thick wall of mist; gray and hazy like the sky above. "You go out one place into the mist, you end up on the other side of town," he pointed towards one end and then to the opposite side as he spoke.

"So where are we going? He said the Ark, but I don't know what that is," he asked, still trying to understand what this world was about.

"You can't explain the Ark, you just need to see what the Ark is to understand," Leader replied. "It's in the center of the city, you can see it from here." He pointed to the tall building in the center of the city. "It's in the green zone."

"What's the green zone?"

"Why don't you just wait and find out for yourself? It's not like knowing a few minutes before will change anything," Leader said.

"You two are so very slow," Mal was sitting in the middle of the street, his hands propping him up and his legs stretched out. "I've been waiting forever."

"You can wait all day for all I care," Leader walked passed him and continued down the street. The newcomer stopped and squatted down beside the redhead.

"Is he always this grumpy?" He asked, his eye on the receding figure of Leader.

"Not usually, they must have fought again," Mal shook his head, looking over his shoulder towards Leader as well. He turned back and held out one hand to be helped up.

"Fought? With who?" He asked, pulling the redhead to his feet.

"I don't know why they fight so much," Mal sighed, slinging his arm over the other's shoulder and started after Leader. "It would probably help if he didn't cry so much."

"Leader?" He asked, getting more lost as the conversation went on.

"What? Leader? Crying? Of course not, I don't think I've ever seen him cry," Mal snorted and started laughing.

About to say something, he was again cut off by a loud wailing sound. Looking around confused, he noticed Leader had stopped as well and was staring off towards the right.

"Crying isn't going to change my mind, just apologize!" Leader shouted and started walking again.

Shaking his head, Mal let the other's shoulder go and skipped towards where the wailing sound was coming from. The newcomer followed after, curious as to who-or what-was making that noise. He rounded a corner into an alley and found the red head squatting in front of a curled up form on the ground.

"I shouldn't have to apologize, he was the one being mean," the form was sobbing and muttering loud enough for the him to hear.

"And you know how he is, just apologize and it'll be over," Mal was chastising, but running his hands through the boy's dark hair.

"But I didn't do anything wrong," the boy whined.

"I know, but that doesn't matter," Mal grabbed the boy's arms and pulled him up. "Now stop crying, we have a visitor."

"A visitor?" The boy looked up as he was pulled to his feet, looking towards the newcomer.

"Yup, and we're going to the Ark to get him a name, so come on, wipe those tears," Mal dragged the boy forward, stopping in front of the newcomer and shoved the boy in front. "This is Baby."

"Hi," Baby sniffled, rubbing at his nose and blinking red puffy eyes at him.

"Hi," he responded, looking towards Mal since he had no idea what to say to the boy.

"Baby is a crybaby, he fits his name," Mal had his arms around Baby's chest and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"I am not a crybaby," Baby whined again.

"Yes you are," Leader's voice came from behind and the newcomer turned to see Leader walking toward them. Baby pouted and tried to shrink back but Mal still had his arms around him. Leader took Baby's hand and pulled him away from Mal and started walking back to the street. He held a one sided whispered conversation with the boy who had his head down and was nodding. At the end of the alley, they stopped and Leader moved in to take Baby's chin in his hand and give him a small kiss. They left the alley, hand in hand.

"Are they...?" The newcomer looked back as Mal was walking towards him.

"Sort of," Mal shrugged, his arm finding its way back to the other's shoulder and they followed after. "It's kind of complicated. Or not complicated. Whatever. You'll understand."

"I just thought that you and he.. by the way you were acting earlier." His head was starting to hurt, and it had nothing to do with the bump.

"We are," Mal beamed brightly. "Like I said, it's complicated in a not complicated way."

"Why was Leader mad then?" He asked as they left the alley and started after the other two.

"They had a fight, and Baby told him something he shouldn't have," Mal tsked, shaking his head. "He should know better than to tell Leader what he and I do together."

"So.. it was his fault then," he asked, trying to wrap his head around the very odd situation.

"No, it was Leader's fault," Mal nodded firmly. "Baby wouldn't have said anything if Leader hadn't been making fun of him."

"I really don't understand this.. relationship you all seem to have with each other," he shook his head, staring out at the city as they were starting to level out and enter an area with tall skyscrapers.

"You will," JungMin let go and started skipping forward to crash into the other two.

Shaking his head, the newest member to the odd group trailed behind, watching them interact with each other. Now that he was alone with his thoughts, he looked around the area, wondering for the hundredth time what this place was, and who he was. Who they all were.

If he thought about it, he could almost recognize each of them, knowing them by a different name. But they continued to elude him, as well as why he was there. There had been a reason, that he was sure of.

They continued to walk through the empty streets, Mal bouncing back every so often to check on him while Leader and Baby went from hand holding to bickering back to hand holding. It was, he guessed, close to a half hour when the buildings fell away and the street ended at a T. The other's had stopped to wait for him and he joined them with an open mouthed expression.

"The green zone," Mal grinned, putting his arm on his shoulder again.

In the middle of the city was a vast lawn of perfectly manicured segments. The grass was a beautiful rich shade of green, a stark contrast to the gray buildings and streets. Nearly a mile squared, the center of the green zone was dominated by the tall building he had seen earlier. Looking up, he could just barely make out the top that was wrapped in the hazy clouds in the sky.

"C'mon, c'mon," Mal was tugging on his arm and pulling him down the white path that would lead them to the building.

"It's so beautiful," he said, peering down at the grass as they walked by. There wasn't a hint of weeds, or disease, or even bugs. Each blade was cut at the exact same height, like it had been measured and snipped individually. "Is it real?" He moved towards the side of the path to touch the grass, but was stopped by Mal pulling him back.

"It's real, but don't touch, not allowed to touch," he was shaking his head vigorously, his red hair flailing about. "Only the children are allowed to play on the grass."

"Children?" He looked at Mal, but stepped away from the grass and continued to walk towards the building. "I thought you said there was no one but you three here?"

"Oh they're not real children," Mal rolled his eyes and snorted, as if that was the only explanation to offer and said nothing else.

"If they're not real children, then what are they?" He was even more confused, if that was possible.

"We'll show you later," Mal was humming and skipping again, still holding on to his arm and pulling him along to catch up to Leader and Baby.

"Doesn't anyone know how to answer a question in this place?" He muttered and Mal gave him a perplexed look.

"If you have questions, you can just ask the Ark. The Ark knows a lot," Mal said, looking to Leader.

"Doesn't mean the Ark will give you answers," Leader said flatly, not turning to look at them.

"True, but it never hurts to ask, right?" Mal nodded and bounced off again, running towards the building.

When everyone had finally made it to the front of the building, Leader and Baby sat down on the path while Mal was motioning the newcomer forward. "C'mon, this won't take long," he was pulling open one of the large glass doors and shoved him through.

They entered a large room, the ceilings were high and mirrored while the floor was a hard black marble. The walls were draped in long black curtains, he presumed to cover the windows he had seen from the outside. There was nothing in the room, just a large empty space save for a computer monitor and terminal in the center of the room.

"This is the Ark?" He asked, looking around as they continued forward, Mal holding on to his arm and guiding him forward.

"No, this is the Ark," the redhead said as they reached the terminal.

The monitor was blank, a small cursor flashing in the corner. "Say hi," Mal nudged him. He looked at Mal and then at the terminal, his hands reaching for the keyboard and typed in his hello. The letters appeared on the screen, then disappeared. The screen lit up, a form slowly darkening to reveal a face devoid of details or color. It looked at Mal, then spoke.

"What do you want Mal?" It spoke in a mid-tone, resonating with a tinny quality.

"He needs a name," Mal said, pointing at the other.

The dead eyes turned from Mal to the other. "Kyu?" Came a reply that sounded almost... startled. The face disappeared from the screen, not before they both saw the puzzled expression. When it reappeared it was expressionless again. "His name is Kyu." The screen went blank, not even the flashing cursor appeared.

"Hey, we weren't done," Mal tapped on the keyboard but nothing happened. Frowning, the redhead turned to the other. "Your name is Kyu." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's kind of cute, sounds kind of normal I guess."

"I.. Kyu?" The name registered in his memories, but they quickly slipped from his grasp and he shook his head. "Kyu it is."

"Well, let's go then Kyu, we can get answers later when the Ark isn't feeling so temperamental," Mal frowned at the terminal, retaking Kyu's arm and heading back out towards the doors.

Looking around, Kyu felt as if someone was watching them, like the whole building was holding its breath for them to leave. "Mal, is there someone in here?"

"What?" Mal gave him a look that clearly said he thought he was crazy. "No, it's just the Ark here, no one lives in this building."

They left through the glass doors and Mal bounded over to where the other two were seated on the ground.

"Attention my dear friends," he started with a flourish of his arms. "I introduce to you, Kyu."

"Kyu?" Leader blinked and then shrugged his shoulders. He stood up and started to walk away, Baby scrambling to his feet and following after.

"It's a nice name," Baby said over his shoulder with a shy smile.

"Thanks," Kyu said as they walked down the path. When they reached the street, Leader turned and started walking along the square in a different direction than they had come from.

"Why are we going this way?" Kyu asked as he walked up beside Leader who was now holding hands with Mal.

"This is a shortcut," Leader said, crossing the street to turn down a street parallel to the one they had walked down earlier.

"We're going to see the children," Mal said with a dark grin. Baby squeaked and attached himself to Kyu, hiding his face in his arm. Kyu blinked down at him, but did nothing to remove him.

"We're just passing by," Leader said, giving Mal a look. "So don't get any ideas."

"I would never do such a thing," Mal gave him a hurt look, but smiled smugly when Leader looked away.

They walked in silence for a while until they turned down another street. Leader turned to Mal, giving him another look, and then to Baby who still had his face half hidden in Kyu's shirt. "Remember, don't try to talk to them. And Kyu," Leader frowned at him, "don't stare at them, they don't like it."

Kyu nodded dumbly and continued on. Baby let out a whimper and without realizing it, Kyu pulled his arm from the boy's grasp and wrapped it around his shoulder. Baby sniffled a couple more times, but then went quiet. Leader crossed to walk into the street, pulling Mal with him who was grumbling about something, but Kyu couldn't make it out.

Up ahead and to their right, Kyu could see the building faces had dropped away in place of a high chain linked fence. As they approached, Kyu's eyes widened as he saw what looked like a large school building with a large courtyard. In long rows stretching from end of the yard to the other and as deep as the yard went back to the front of the building stood hundreds of children.

The rows were neat and orderly, evenly spaced and the children's shoulders had a mere sliver of space between. The fact that they were all standing perfectly still, staring straight at them was creepy enough, but the all looked exactly the same. Same pressed gray uniform, same short clipped cut. Same dark slanted eyes. It wasn't just that they looked alike, they were all exactly the same, a sea of little boy clones.

"Don't stare," Baby mumbled, his big brown eyes were staring up at Kyu and away from the children. Kyu glanced down at him and nodded. He risked looking up one last time before turning his attention towards Leader and Mal who were walking quickly.

When they were passed the school yard, Kyu let out a sigh of relief and noticed the tension released in the others as well. Mal had started to bounce around again, still holding Leader's hand.

"Who.. what were they?" Kyu looked down at Baby who was still holding onto his arm, but no longer pressed against him.

"The children... evil, wicked things," Baby shuddered. "They'll gobble you up if they catch you."

"They're just.. children.. how do you know?" Kyu risked a glance back towards the school yard before they turned another corner.

"I know," Baby said in a serious tone, refusing to look at Kyu.

They walked in silence after that, except for Mal who was signing off key again and running around the streets in a zig zag pattern. Kyu and Baby had caught up to Leader who had his hands in his pockets, smirking at Mal running around.

"Is he always like that?" Kyu asked, slightly amused at the redhead's antics.

"Usually. He doesn't like to sit still for very long. Sometimes I have to tie him down," Leader scowled when Mal rounded a corner and was lost from sight.

"He never lets me tie him down," Baby grumbled under his breath, and Kyu got the impression they were talking about something he wasn't sure he wanted to know about.

"Where are you staying tonight?" Leader looked at Kyu with a bored expression, ignoring the cry of protest from Baby.

"Oh.. Mal said I could stay with him until I found a place," Kyu looked at Leader and then at Baby who was pouting again.

"Sounds good. If he's too much for you, you can stay with one of us too," Leader turned down where Mal had gone, ignoring the fact that Mal was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did Mal go?" Kyu looked around, the other two didn't seem to care.

"He's hiding and going to try and jump out and scare us, because it always works so well," Leader smirked over at Baby who was glowering.

"He just likes to hear me scream," Baby sniffed and looked around as well. Leader snorted loudly and started to laugh. Baby's face turned bright red and whined before letting Kyu's arm go and took off down the street. Kyu watched the boy run. As he neared the end of the street, Mal jumped out from an alley and Kyu could hear Baby's shriek, and then chuckled as he watched Baby run back to hide behind Leader.

"We should hurry, and get inside before it's dark," Leader was looking up at the sky. Kyu couldn't see any discernible difference in the light, but figured they would know when it would get dark in this place better than he would.

"Is it not safe to be out when it's dark?" Kyu asked, watching Mal as he skipped just a few paces in front of them.

"No more safe than during the day, but the children only play at night," Leader said.

Kyu was getting tired of the half answers they were all giving him, so gave up trying to talk. He walked with them in silence until Leader stopped in front of a lavish building front, tugging on Baby's arm as he went up the steps.

"We'll see you later," he told Mal and Kyu.

"Why don't we ever go to my place?" Baby was whining, but protesting as Leader pulled him up the stairs.

"My bed is bigger," Leader said as they disappeared inside.

"C'mon Kyu," Mal had taken his arm and was pulling him along down the street. "My place isn't that far, we have to hurry, before it gets dark." Kyu said nothing to that, glancing up at the sky again.

They turned down another street that looked familiar and before he knew it they were at Mal's door. It was as if someone flipped a switch somewhere, there was no warning as the whole world went black. Street lamps flickered on and Kyu looked around.

"Hurry hurry," Mal tugged him in and slammed the door shut behind them. "Just in time," Mal grinned and skipped down the hall to his door. Kyu followed behind slowly. When he entered the room, Mal was sprawled out on the couch, humming and wiggling.

"So... now what?" Kyu sat down on the other couch and looked around.

"Now we wait until the light comes back," Mal smiled at him, then continued to hum.

"I guess that takes a while then," Kyu sighed, copying Mal and stretching out on the couch. It was odd, he didn't even feel tired.

"Sometimes," Mal looked over at him and grinned. "You want the tour?"

"The tour?" Kyu asked, puzzled.

"Yes, the tour!" Mal jumped up and bounced over to pull Kyu off of the couch. "This is the living room. Comfortable couches," he tugged on Kyu and led him over to the kitchen. "The kitchen. I don't know how to cook, so don't ask." Mal snorted and pulled him down the hall. Stopping in front of one door, he turned the handle and flung it open. "Spare room, play room, et cetera."

He bounded down to the last door at the end of the hall, turning around and dramatically posing against the frame. "This, is my room. It's where I spend all my time," he turned the handle and slowly pushed it open. Kyu looked in at the cluttered room dominated by a very large unkempt bed.

"It's.. nice," he said, turning to go back but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Don't you want to see how the bed feels?" Mal was pulling him into the room and Kyu didn't stop him. Mal pushed him down to sit on the bed and sat down next to him, bouncing slightly. "Nice huh?"

"Yeah, it's nice," Kyu looked at the redhead funny. The man was very enthusiastic about the bed. He was wholly unprepared for being pushed onto his back and Mal straddling his waist.

"Want to try it out?" Mal was wiggling his hips while he leaned over Kyu, bottom lip stuck out in a weird devious looking pout.

"Umm.." Kyu stared at him. That moment of hesitation did him in. Mal grinned and slid back, undoing his pants zipper and yanking them and his boxers off in a single motion. Gasping, Kyu tried to sit up but Mal pushed him back down.

"Relax Kyu, you try out the bed, I'll try you out," Mal pushed him up farther, Kyu scooted back using his elbows. He found it odd that he wasn't protesting the redhead's antics, but there were a number of things going on that he found odd about this place.

His head snapped back up when Mal's lips and hands attacked him. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head while the redhead was bobbing up and down over him. Mal was moaning into his work, the vibrations sending shivers up Kyu's spine. Even if he had wanted to protest, that action did him in and his arms and legs felt like jelly.

His mind was lost in a dazed state of confusion. It was the only rational explanation he could come up with when he found Mal sitting astride his lap, grinding and sliding on top of him. The redhead was moaning and shrieking, running his hands over his own body.

It would explain why his own hands were at Mal's waist, guiding him along, his own sounds of contentment intermingled. It also explained why Kyu found himself flipping Mal onto his back, holding his legs back and finishing them both off while staring down at Mal's flushed face and open screaming mouth.

Panting, Kyu pushed away from the redhead who was mewling and writhing around on the bed. Sitting back on his knees he stared at the wall, trying to understand what had just happened. He felt like he was grasping at straws that kept vanishing when he tried to focus. This felt familiar, but wrong.

"Well that was fun," Mal mused, lazily drawing his fingers over his sweaty and sticky chest.

"Doesn't it feel... odd?" Kyu stared down at him, the sense of familiarity with the man was nagging at him.

"Of course," Mal shrugged, stretching out his long legs. "But not at the same time, you know?"

"Yeah," Kyu frowned and shook his head confused head. "It's like I know you, and I've.. done this before, but not." He scrubbed a hand through his hair.

"It's the same with the others too," Mal sat up, propping himself up with his hands behind him.

"How do you stand this? It's like I know I should be doing something, not this, something important, but I can't remember what it is," Kyu said in frustration.

"I... don't feel that way," Mal tilted his head to the side. "I don't think any of us feel like we should be doing something. We don't feel right being here though."

Kyu stared at the redhead for a long moment, wondering what that meant. "How often do you three talk about.. whatever this is?"

"Not so much anymore," Mal sat up and scooted back to rest against the headboard. His long lanky arms stretched out along the top of it. "We used to a long time ago, but after a while we just kind of gave it up. We couldn't find a way out, or figure out what was going on, so we just stopped talking about it."

"This is all so new to me, so I don't think I'll be talking about much else for a while," Kyu sighed, giving the redhead a wry look.

"That's fine, it's exciting having someone new here to talk to anyway," Mal grinned at him, hint of deviousness in his smile. "You're fun by the way, it took the other's a while before they gave in. Not that there was much else to do."

Kyu didn't respond to that, just continued to give him a look. He hadn't sorted out his feelings on what had taken place and how quick to respond he was. "You're fun too, I guess," he shrugged after a long stretch of silence.

That was obviously the wrong thing to say to the rambunctious redhead who was on him again in seconds.

Kyu's eyes snapped open. He didn't remember falling asleep, nor did he remember the last thing that had happened. Oh, wait, yes he did. He rubbed at his temple and sighed while getting into a sitting position.

"Morning," Mal's chipper voice startled him and he looked over to see the redhead lounging on his side, sheets draped over his body and one hand resting on his hip.

"Is it?" Kyu noticed for the first time there weren't any windows in the room, nor did he recall seeing any in the rest of the apartment.

"Well we're awake, so it's obviously morning," Mal rolled his eyes at him.

"You know, you guys act like I should know all the rules to this place when I just got here," Kyu glared at him.

"It's not like it's hard to figure out," Mal shrugged, his hand slipping across the bed to slid over Kyu's thigh.

"At least give me a couple days before you start rolling your eyes," Kyu muttered at Mal as the redhead was crawling over towards him.

"I'll try," Mal chuckled, pulling the sheets back and planting himself on Kyu's lap. Not saying anything to that, Kyu found his hands going to the red head's waist automatically, staring up into the grinning mouth. There was even less apprehension than there was the night before, if there had been any at all.

There was a loud thumping at the door. Mal groaned, but Kyu couldn't tell if it was for that reason or not.

Mal tipped his head backwards, not letting up on his movements. "Go away!" He called out, his head snapping back up and pouting at Kyu. "No privacy at all."

The front door slammed open and there were footsteps in the hall. Mal grumbled, but that only seemed to spur him on faster. Kyu closed his eyes, biting his lip and ignoring everything else.

"I told you he was only good for one thing," Leader's voice came through the haze of lust currently settled over Kyu's mind and his eyes opened to stare at him over Mal's shoulder.

"What do you want," Mal asked between gasps, not even pausing when the other man had come into the room.

"Well I came here for him, but you're looking mighty tempting too," Leader said, crawling up to kneel on the bed just behind Mal. Tipping his head back by his hair and biting down on his shoulder. Mal groaned, resting his head on Leader's shoulder.

"I'm kind of busy," Mal hissed when Leader's hand reached around his belly, idling for a moment before sliding down Mal's body grabbing him roughly.

"I can see that," Leader mused, his lips buried in the crook of Mal's neck. "But Kyu doesn't seem to mind, do you Kyu?"

Kyu pointedly ignored them both, concentrating on Mal's hips and the activity centered around them; both in front of them and under. "Kyu doesn't mind," Leader chuckled, his other hand now sliding over Mal's chest.

It was mere moments before Mal was screaming and shuddering, Kyu not far behind. Leader dragged Mal off of Kyu and was coiling himself around the redhead, peeling his clothes off.

Kyu watched them as he slowly tried to regain his breath, unconcerned with how they completely forgot his existence so quickly.

Kyu dozed, letting the movements on the bed lull him to sleep until the weight of a body was crashing down over his chest. Grunting, he opened his eyes to look down at Mal who had face planted into him with Leader pressed tightly to his back.

Staring at them for a moment, he was about to speak when movement at the door caught his eye.

"Oh, sorry," Baby was staring at the three of them, his lip trembling and tears running down his cheeks. When Leader and Mal looked his way he choked out a sob and ran.

"We should go after him," Leader sighed, climbing off of Mal and started to pull on his clothes.

"Why? It's not like we invited him," Mal snorted, resting his head on Kyu's chest and curling up beside him.

"He came with me, I forgot about him," Leader reached over, smacking Mal hard on the ass. "Get up. You too Kyu."

Mal grumbled but did as asked, pulling on his discarded clothes from the night before. There was no sign of Baby in the apartment, nor out on the street. Kyu looked in puzzlement at the bike outside the door. He clearly remembered it had had a bent wheel. He was about to say something to Mal but Leader cut him off.

"You know where to look," Leader sighed, looking at Mal who looked decidedly unhappy about having to look for Baby. "And Kyu's with me," he said, taking Kyu's arm and leading him away. Mal grumbled something irritably but started walking in the opposite direction.

They walked in silence, Kyu glancing at Leader after a while and noticed his grimace. "There something wrong?"

"That kid is too sensitive," Leader said, still scowling.

"I don't really blame him. The situation is kind of odd," Kyu started, trailing off when Leader looked at him.

"He should be used to it by now," Leader sighed and shook his head. "You know what gets me though? I feel guilty, all the time when I'm around him. I don't know why. Even before all of this started, I felt like I owed him something."

"Do you feel the same way towards Mal?" Kyu asked, puzzled by this admission from Leader.

"No," Leader frowned, staring off down the street. "When it comes to Mal... I just see him as there. Someone to fuck. It's all he's good for."

"He's very... enthusiastic," Kyu bit his lip, trying not to let Leader's view of the redhead cloud his own feelings. That wasn't very fair to Mal to view him in such a way.

"Mal would go all day if you let him, it's about the only thing that gets him calm enough to settle down and sleep," Leader shrugged.

"We were talking about Baby," Kyu pointed out. Obviously Leader was trying to distract himself from the real problem.

"And? What's your point? He's such a crybaby, he should know better by now," Leader was back to being angry again. "And it's not like he doesn't do the same thing with Mal, and he knows how I feel about that."

"But it's okay for you to?" Kyu raised an eyebrow.

"Well.. I didn't say that," Leader glared at him. "Who are you to show up and start analyzing our problems anyway?"

"I'm not trying to analyze anything, I'm just making observations," Kyu put a hand up in defense. "But did you ever think that maybe he only does things with Mal because you do? And if you stopped, he would too?"

"Why wouldn't he just tell me if that was the problem?" Leader looked at Kyu with an odd expression.

"I don't know," Kyu shrugged. "I've only been here a day, but I can already tell you're not exactly the friendliest of people to talk to."

"Well.. no, not really," Leader nodded. "For some reason though I'm okay talking to you."

"Probably because I'm a little removed from what's going on," Kyu pointed out.

"You gave in to Mal, you're not so removed from the situation anymore," Leader fixed him with a look and a knowing smirk.

"Well.. like you said.." Kyu trailed off, not really believing what he was saying, but he hadn't figured that whole thing out yet, and it was a better answer than nothing.

Leader nodded and chuckled. They had been wandering for a while it seemed, slowly making their way into the downtown area.

"Do you know where to look for him?" Kyu asked, the city was so large.

"He only goes to a couple of places when he's like this, Mal's checking the playground, we get to check the planetarium." Leader pointed to a large dome shaped building they were headed for.

"Odd that there's a planetarium, but no sky," Kyu looked up at the haze above them.

"What isn't weird about this place," Leader chuckled as they approached the front doors.

The lobby was quiet, filled with displays of planets and stars with informational placards underneath. Off to one side was a gift shop full of toys and puzzles and tiny rocket shaped toys.

Something tugged at his memory. He frowned and looked around. "This is... familiar." Kyu slowly walked around, reading the information, looking at the displays.

There was a moment, just a brief flash. It was a feeling, of hands intertwined. A sound, a cheerful laugh.

"Really?" Leader looked puzzled at that.

"Yeah... I know I've been here before," Kyu shook his head, brushing the feeling of familiarity away.

Leader was walking towards a tall pair of double doors. Once open, soft music filtered in and he motioned for Kyu to follow. Walking into pitch black, Kyu had to stop to let his eyes adjust and draw up slowly to the ceiling of stars that were spinning slowly.

"He's here," Leader whispered, causing Kyu to jump. "I'll be right back." He felt Leader brush by to be lost by the dark. Kyu's eyes were still on the ceiling.

He slowly walked forward as well until he bumped into seat. With the barest of glances, he moved around to the end of the row and took a seat, tipping back and staring up.

The affect of the spinning stars was dizzying. Kyu had to grip the arms of the seat to keep from feeling like he would drift away. As he stared, fragmented bits of memories were bubbling up. Stronger than before. Unknowingly, his eyes slipped closed.

'Kyu?' The voice was melodic, drawing him in closer.

'Yes, love?' He wrapped his arms around the slim waist from behind, burying his nose in the raven hair.

'I love you.'

Eyes snapped open and Kyu stared up. He replayed the moment over and over again in his mind. The voice was familiar, he'd heard it a thousand times before, marveling at it even when it would say the most mundane of things. The hair, how he ran his hand's through the silky texture, twining his fingers around the strands.

The more he tried to hold onto the memory, the more it slipped and crumbled apart at the seams. The voice faded, only remembering there had been a voice. Shaking his head, Kyu sat up and rubbed at his eyes. Everything about this place was maddening, even the memories it stirred.

The stars were still spinning above, but they no longer had the same power over him, only making him dizzy. Standing up, he looked around and spotted Leader and Baby a few rows ahead. Heard them as well. It seemed Baby cried during everything.

Annoyed, Kyu walked back out of the theater room and into the lobby. From the lobby and down the street, Kyu wandered alone. He wasn't consciously aware of where he was headed, but when he found himself standing at the sidewalk to the green zone, it seemed it had been his destination all along.

The more he stared at the building where the Ark was housed, the more it frustrated him. There was something odd about the building, and the Ark. More odd than everything else within the city. The more he stared, the more he felt like the building was watching him.

He walked around the perimeter of the green zone, his eyes never leaving the building. The feeling of being watched never left until he found himself back where he started.

There was something important, something he knew about the building. It nagged at the back of his mind to take action, but not what action to take. Sighing, he shook his head and turned around to go back.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the child standing behind him, staring at him. Kyu took several steps back, his heart racing. It felt silly to be so scared of a child, but between the warnings of the other's and the scorn evident in the boy's eyes, Kyu couldn't help but shake.

"Leave me alone." The boy spoke, then turned and walked away.

Kyu didn't move again until the boy was out of sight. Taking a deep breath he started out again, glancing back every now and again to make sure the child wasn't following.

As he rounded another corner, he was confronted again, whether it was the same one or not he wasn't sure. Again the same message. Utterly confused, Kyu picked up his pace.

It didn't make sense. Leave who alone? The children were seeking him out, he was doing everything to avoid them. But every time he rounded a corner or glanced over his shoulder, a child had appeared.

"Leave me alone."

Kyu was running when he left the confines of the downtown. Skyscrapers giving way to the shorter houses and buildings of the suburbs. The children stopped appearing, but he kept running. Running until he nearly bowled over Mal who had come out of a building.

"There you are!" Mal looked him up and down, puzzled at how out of breath he was. "Where have you been? Leader and Baby came back hours ago."

"I... went for a walk," Kyu hunched over, his hands on his knees as he tried to regain the ability to breathe.

"Well, okay, but you should have told them, you're still new," Mal frowned, taking his arm and pulled him into the building he had just left.

It was some sort of cafe or diner, with large and comfy couches. Once again there was a feeling of familiarity to the room. Kyu batted away the feeling, not wanting to think about it, it just confused him more.

Leader and Baby were lounging together, Leader's head in Baby's lap who was playing with his long dark brown hair. Kyu looked at each of the others. None of them had black hair.

"I see you found your way back," Leader drawled, only moving his eyes to look over at him.

"Yeah," Kyu took a seat on a free couch, joined shortly by Mal. He hesitated a moment before telling them what happened. Everything from the feeling of being watched, to the memories in the planetarium, to the children. He left nothing out, not knowing what any of it meant.

Leader had sat up, staring at him intently while holding on to Baby who had whimpered at the mention of the children and had his face buried in Leader's side, one eye peeking out to look at him. Even Mal had gone still, listening. When he had finished, Mal and Leader looked at each other, then back at Kyu.

"The child... spoke?" Was the first thing Leader said.

"Yeah, they all said the same thing. At least, I couldn't tell if it was the same one or not. I don't understand it, I wasn't bothering them," Kyu shook his head, still baffled by the experience.

"They've never left the schoolyard in the day," Baby whispered quietly, his voice muffled by Leader's shirt.

"He's right," Leader was slowly rubbing the younger's back. "We've never seen them in the day. I wonder what you did to piss them off."

"Nothing, I just... I walked around the green zone and came back, that's it," Kyu rubbed at his head. "Neither of you saw anything when you were coming back?"

Leader and Baby looked at each other and both shook their heads. "No," Leader spoke again. "When we saw you were gone we came back here. Looked for you for a bit, we were taking a rest before starting out again."

"I think it's best if we stay out of downtown for a few days, just in case," Baby said quietly and the others nodded their heads silently in agreement.

"So what now?" Mal leaned back into the couch with a bored look.

"We should just head home, I've got a bad feeling about today," Leader stood, Baby still clinging to his side nodding as well.

"Sounds good," Mal bounced up, looking at Kyu. "You're with me again, right?"

"I guess," Kyu shrugged his shoulders, looking at Baby and Leader. They seemed, closer than before, Leader more relaxed and Baby happier as they walked out of the cafe.

"They had a chat," Mal mused in his ear as they followed him out.

"Oh?" Kyu glanced at the redhead. "Do you know what about?"

"No, they wouldn't tell me," Mal sighed, shaking his head. "I got the impression that I'm no longer welcome."

"Ah," Kyu nodded and patted Mal on the arm. "They seem to be okay with that."

"Good for them," Mal sniffed irritably. "I guess that means I get you all to myself then." He hooked his arm with Kyu's and grinned brightly at him.

"I guess.." Kyu frowned. He knew he wouldn't have any objections later, but right now it didn't appeal to him.

"Well if you're going to be that way," Mal grumbled, letting his arm go and stalking off. He turned down a street heading away from them.

Up ahead, Leader and Baby stopped and watched him go. They held a short conversation and Baby ran off after Mal. Kyu caught up to Leader and they waited for a few moments, watching the two walk off.

"What did you say?" Leader gave him a passing glance.

"Nothing, I guess I wasn't enthusiastic enough to his advances," Kyu shrugged.

"I see," Leader smirked and started walking forward again. "I think that means you're staying with me tonight, he's going to moody all night."

"What about...?" Kyu started, catching back up with him.

"Up to him where he goes tonight," Leader glanced over his shoulder. "We had a talk, I think things will be okay."

"That's good to hear," Kyu smiled at him. They rounded a corner and Kyu recognized it as the street Leader's place was at. They walked up the steps together and entered his home.

Unlike Mal's tiny apartment, Leader had an entire house to himself. There was a parlor and a living room, formal dining and expansive kitchen.

"How come you all live separately? The three of you could easily live here," Kyu asked, wandering around.

"Would you want to live with those two all the time?" Leader gave him a pointed look and Kyu had to agree, he'd want his own place as well.

"None of us have black hair," Leader said, staring at Kyu.

"I noticed," Kyu stared back. They were changing topics it seemed.

"Do you know who it is in these memories?" Leader took a seat on a couch in the parlor, Kyu joining him.

"No," Kyu shook his head. He had tried to figure out, but he hadn't seen the person's face. Even if he had, would he know who it was? A part of him didn't think so. That it would be just another mystery he'd never unravel.

He didn't want to acknowledge the small voice that was screaming at him that he would know, and that it would all make sense when he did remember.

Of course, that didn't help him in the current predicament, he didn't see the other person's face.

Leader was about to speak again when the light outside went off, plunging them into darkness. It took a moment before lamps flickered on on their own. Frowning, Leader got up and looked out the window. "I guess he--"

A loud shrieking sound cut him off and Kyu got to his feet. Leader ran to the door and threw it open, stepping outside and looking around. Kyu joined him, movement at the far end of the street catching his eye.

Baby was running, screaming at the top of his lungs, a mass of dark writhing bodies was chasing him. As they got closer, Kyu could make out the features as they ran under the street lamps. They came up to about Baby's waist, long and sleek black bodies like a cat's but with a short blunted head like some type of mole, or some other animal Kyu couldn't remember the name of. Gaping jaws snapped at Baby's heels.

"Oh god..." Kyu gasped. They were catching up, Baby wasn't going to make it. "We have to do something," Kyu whispered, looking at Leader sharply. The other man's expression was unreadable, but he made no movement to help.

Anther loud shriek snapped Kyu's attention back. One of the creature's had Baby by one of his leg's and was dragging him off the street into a darkened alley. His cries were cut short as more of them poured into the alley. A few stopped and stared down towards them.

Leader pulled Kyu back into the house and slammed the door shot. He backed away from the door and sat down on the staircase, staring at the door.

"I... what were those things," Kyu whispered, backing away from the door as well. There was a snuffling and chittering sound coming from the other side. Kyu wondered if the door would hold if they tried to break in.

"The children," Leader said quietly.

"The chil..? You mean the little boys? The one's that were chasing me out of downtown? Those children?" Kyu's eyes went wide, glancing back and forth between the door and Leader.

"Yes," Leader stood and started up the stairs, leaving Kyu floundering. "There's nothing we can do about it now, forget it," Leader said when he'd reached the landing and disappeared into a room.

Kyu stared at the door for a moment longer then followed Leader up. His mind was reeling, having just watched Baby get killed and Leader didn't seem bothered by it. Blinking back tears in his eyes he headed up the stairs after him.

He found Leader curled up on a large bed, open eyes staring at the wall. Kyu slowly walked over and sat down next to him. "I'm sorry about Baby," he whispered. Leader turned and looked at him.

"Why?" The response sounded confused.

"He was just..." Kyu frowned and reached his hand out to place on the man's shoulder. "If there's anything I can do..."

Leader sat up, looking at him with a very confused expression. "Anything?" He posed the question, his eyes had drifted down and then back up Kyu's body.

"Of course," Kyu hesitated slightly. He recognized the look, but he was clearly baffled. Had they not just watched Baby get killed? He brushed the thought aside, everyone has their own way of grieving.

Some people cried, some people closed themselves off from the world, some people accept it and move on.

Some people, were like Leader, who buried their emotions deep inside, as deep inside as he was in Kyu.

It was another oddity that Kyu hadn't protested. Not that he'd been given much of a chance when Leader had pulled him close, attacking his neck with hot lips and sharp teeth. He could have pushed him away, but he had said he would do anything.

Anything also came in the form of helping Leader tear his clothes off, each piece being thrown somewhere. Anything was arching his back and hissing with the feel of Leader's warm mouth swallowing him whole. Anything was tining his finger's into the man's dark brown hair, groaning with pleasure.

Anything was letting Leader flip him over and take him hard and rough and fast, because that's how Leader needed it.

Anything was not crying out someone else's name that hovered at the tip of his tongue, a name he'd said thousands of times before in the throes of passion. A name he wouldn't able to recall later.

Anything was letting it happen again, and again, and again, until they were too spent to move.

They lay together, coiled about each other. Crying for a lost love, and a forgotten name.

Kyu's eyes opened slowly. His face pressed against Leader's chest and arms wrapped around his waist. He looked up, watching Leader sleep for a moment before pressing small soft kisses to the man's toned chest and then settling back to lay against him again.

Leader stirred after a moment, eyes cracking open and slowly running his hands over Kyu's back. Peering up at the older man, Kyu smiled a little before sitting up, rubbing at his eyes. He was about to speak when there was a flurry of movement in the corner of his eye and a redhead was diving onto the bed.

Staring at Mal who was attacking Leader, Kyu felt a moment of guilt. Kyu had been so focused on what happened to Baby that he hadn't thought about what had happened to him, but he seemed to be okay.

"Where's Baby?" Mal asked, pulling his shirt off. "I thought he was coming back here?"

"Children got him," Leader was sitting up, the redhead in his lap and he was mouthing over his slim chest. Kyu took that moment to slide off the bed and find his clothes. Obviously now that Baby was out of the picture, Leader wouldn't feel so guilty about being with Mal.

"Oh," Mal pouted, running his hand through Leader's hair. "He should know better by now." He looked up at Kyu, other hand outstretched and a wide grin.

Kyu stared at them both, uncomprehending how passive and uncaring they were both being. "I'm going for a walk," he shook his head, stuffing his feet in his shoes and pulling his shirt on.

He doubted they even heard him now that Mal was on his hands and knees with Leader pressing against him. Mal's screams probably drowned him out.

Heading out of Leader's house, Kyu walked down the street, oblivious to where he was going until he was standing just in front of the alley he had seen the creature's take Baby down. He hadn't meant to go this way, he didn't want to look, afraid of what he might find.

Something inside told him he had to though. Closing his eyes he took a step forward and turned to look down the alley, slowly opening his eyes. The body lay crumpled against the wall in a tangled heap.

Taking a deep breath, Kyu approached. He wanted to run, not see what a mutilated mess he was sure to find, but he kept walking.

What surprised him as he stood over Baby's still form was the lack of any marks. His clothes were rumpled, and brown hair in disarray, but otherwise he looked like he could have been sleeping.

Frowning, Kyu squatted down in front of the body. Reaching out hesitantly, his hand touched Baby's shoulder to roll him over.

Baby's eye's snapped open.

Shrieking, Kyu flew back, stumbling and landing on his ass. Trembling all over, he stares as Baby sits up and rubs at his head. He was looking at Kyu with a puzzled expression, which wasn't half as puzzled as Kyu's.

"Kyu?" Baby started to stand up. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Y-you... I.. Baby.. you died," Kyu was shaking all over, scrambling to get to his feet but failing miserably.

"They didn't tell you did they," Baby gave him a sympathetic look, shaking his head and stepping back to lean against the wall.

"Tell me what?" Kyu had hit the far wall, still not able to get his feet under him.

"We can't die," Baby said softly, kicking his sneakered foot at the ground.

"What do you mean? Has.. that happened before?" Kyu stared at him in shock.

"Loads of times," Baby frowned. Pushing off the wall he started out of the alley, motioning for Kyu to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you something."

Kyu watched him go for a moment before getting up and following after. He caught up with the other after a moment and they walked down the street in silence.

"Where are we going?" Kyu asked after a long stretch of silence. Baby pointed to a park they were approaching. It was kind of a park anyway, there was a run down playground with twisted metal slides and half the swings that were still attached dangled from one chain.

"I come here when I want to be found," Baby smiled, avoiding the playground and heading to a small hill. He bent down to pick up a piece of broken wood fencing. "Every time one of us dies I come here and make a grave." He said, squatting down and sticking the piece of wood into the ground. He gave it a good couple of taps to make sure it stayed and then stood back up, brushing off his hands.

"There aren't any other markers though?" Kyu looked around, confused. "Didn't you say you'd died a lot of times?"

"I have, so have the others," Baby nodded, turning away from the marker and headed back out of the park.

"I don't understand, why aren't there more?" Kyu asked following after. Baby smiled back at him, waiting for him to catch up.

"Have you dreamed since you got here?" Baby asked, tilting his head to the side. Kyu stared at him, why was he changing the subject?

"I.. no? Not that I can remember," Kyu shook his head.

"It took us a while to figure out what happens when the lights go out," Baby said, his hands were back in his pockets. They were walking down the street again, small shops lining to either side. They were moving in a direction that Kyu hadn't been to, towards the edge of town.

"The first couple of days, we were all caught outside, one minute we were walking, the next we woke up lying in the middle of the street." Baby was continuing, his gaze focused on a water tower that they were heading towards. "That was before the children showed up thankfully," Baby chuckled. "But, we don't sleep."

"What? I slept last night.. I mean I woke up, I don't remember falling asleep," Kyu frowned. He distinctly remembered being awake wrapped in Leader's arms, and then waking up.

"But you didn't sleep," Baby shook his head. "When the lights go out... the world resets itself."

"What do you mean?" Kyu looked at him, puzzled. "Resets. Like a video game?"

"Kind of," Baby nodded at that. "Here, watch." Baby looked to either side of the street before picking a building and heading towards it, grabbing Kyu's hand and taking him with. Stopping in front of the door, he grinned at Kyu, pulling open the door. Kyu turned his head to look inside, blinked repeatedly and turned back to Baby.

Instead of the interior of a shop, there was a flat wall on the other side of the door, painted to look like the interior was open and spacious.

"I don't understand, are all the buildings like this?" Kyu asked as Baby shut the door. Holding up a finger, Baby seemed to be counting in his head before he reopened the door. Kyu looked again and stared. The painted wall was gone. He took a hesitant step into the building, looking at the shop. "But..."

"It'll be like this all day, tomorrow it will go back to being a store front with a painted wall for interior. All but a few of the buildings are like this. Our houses, the planetarium, the coffee shop, and the Ark are the only exceptions." Baby was wandering around the aisles, like he was looking for something.

Kyu was rooted to the spot just inside the door, half expecting the room to turn back into a painted wall at any moment. It was some sort of crafts store, paint and brushes and plain wooden dolls lining shelves and walls.

"So weird," he said, not sure how to process what he was seeing. As with every other place he'd been in this place, it was familiar

Baby had reemerged, holding two large paint cans. "Want to paint the town?" He was grinning, holding out a can for Kyu. Blinking several times, Kyu reached out to take the can.

"Sure," he said, following Baby out of the shop and onto the street.

"How about, instead of painting the town red," Baby was prying off the lid of the paint can. "How about yellow?" He looked up at Kyu.

"Why yellow?" Kyu squatted down next to him, opening his can. The paint was a bright canary yellow. "It's pretty."

"Yellow is just such a nice color, don't you think?" Baby set the lid down and stood up, picking up the can by it's handle.

"I like yellow," Kyu nodded, mirroring Baby and standing up. "What now?"

"Paint!" Baby grinned, taking the can and tossing the paint on the street. He moved a few steps back and heaved the can again, more paint splattering out onto the street.

Laughing, Kyu watched him and the bright yellow paint flow out of the can. Taking up his can he did the same, tossing the paint out onto the street until he had reached the curb. Once done, he walked back into the middle of the street, watching the paint run down away from them to cover the small section of road.

"Too bad there's not enough to paint the whole road, even if it's just for a day it'd be nice to see some color in this place." Baby had joined him, holding his empty can. He was smiling happily, a little out of breath from laughing.

"So tomorrow, it'll go back to being a plain gray stretch of road?" Kyu sighed, smiling sadly.

"Yup," Baby nodded, tossing the paint can to the side. "And tomorrow I'll come back and paint it again, maybe purple next time. So far the green has looked the best."

"I kind of like how the yellow looks," Kyu shrugged, sad that it would be nothing more than a memory when they woke.

"Well that was fun," Baby put his hands back in his pockets and started walking away again. Kyu tossed his can to the side and followed after.

"Where are we going now?" He asked, noticing the way Baby was looking at the water tower at the end of the street.

"Somewhere safe," Baby smiled up at him.

The water tower they were heading towards was walled off by a tall privacy fence. Baby walked around to the far end, he pulled up on one of the boards and motioned for Kyu to go in.

Still mulling over what Baby had said, he did as asked and squeezed through the hole in the fence. "Are you thirsty?" Baby asked when he had come through, looking up at the tower.

"No," Kyu shook his head, looking sharply at Baby who just smiled and nodded. He wasn't thirsty, or hungry, and hadn't been since he got there.

"Weird isn't it?" Baby chuckled, he was walking towards the base of the water tower, Kyu trailing after. Reaching the ladder, he started to climb. They didn't talk again until they had reached the top. Kyu vaguely wondered why he wasn't panicking since he was deathly afraid of heights.

At the top, Baby scrambled off the ladder onto the landing, reaching down to help Kyu up. The catwalk surrounded the whole water basin, and Kyu wondered if there was even water inside it at all. Baby had sat down on the edge of the catwalk, leaning his arms on the railing.

Kyu joined him, facing out towards the city. From this vantage point they could see everything stretched out before them.

"I come here when I want to be alone and don't want to be found," Baby said, still smiling.

"It's nice," Kyu looked out over the city, his eyes unconsciously going to the tall building at the center. At this distance, he didn't feel the eyes on him like he had under it's shadow, but it still made him uncomfortable.

"I'm not really a crybaby," Baby said softly, his chin resting on the metal rail, his eyes looking down at the ground. "At least, I don't think I am. I can't help it sometimes, but it feels so wrong, so unlike me."

"I don't think you're a crybaby," Kyu said, turning to look at the younger. "A little sensitive maybe?"

Baby turned his head to the side and smiled at him. "Sensitive. I think I like the sound of that better." They looked at each other for a long moment before Baby smiled shyly and looked away. "You're a lot nicer to me than they are."

"Well, you're better company than they are," Kyu shrugged. It was true. Being around Baby had been more fun, and enlightening than the two days he had spent with Mal and Leader.

Baby answered questions, and explained things, unlike Leader who ignored him.

Baby talked to him, and expected nothing from him, unlike Mal who seemed interested in only one thing.

"You are too," Baby was looking out over the city again. "Leader told me you talked to him about our... situation."

"Yeah, he seemed a little upset over the whole thing," Kyu had shifted to look back at the city as well.

"You were right, I only did things with Mal because Leader did," Baby said. "But the more I thought about it, the more I didn't care what he did, nor did I care for doing anything with Mal."

"Did you tell him that?" Kyu was trying to look anywhere but the massive tower, but it kept drawing his eye. He decided to keep his attention on Baby, the building just confused him.

"I did, we came to an agreement," Baby nodded, he'd slid back and was starting to stand. "As long as he doesn't make fun of me or mention Mal, then I don't care what he does."

"And you're okay with that?" Kyu stood as well, still looking at the other.

"I am. I told him I forgave him," Baby leaned against the railing, looking over at him.

"Forgave him for what?" Kyu mirrored him and leaned on the railing as well, moving a little closer to Baby who was speaking very softly.

"I have no idea," Baby smiled warmly at him, shrugging lightly. "He said he felt guilty about something, and I told him I had forgiven him already. either of us know what about."

"Something that happened before then?" Kyu tilted his head, taking in Baby's features. He had very pretty brown doe eyes, and could easily see what Leader saw in him.

That line of thinking and he was imagining deep black almond shaped eyes, ones he had willingly lost himself into.

"Probably," Baby was still looking at him, his expression unreadable. "It feels like a past life."

"I know what you mean," Kyu nodded, slowly straightening and turning to face Baby.

A silence hung over them for a long moment, Baby staring up at Kyu from where he was still leaning against the rail. Kyu closed the distance between them with small hesitant steps, one hand still on the railing.

"I like you, Kyu, you're very nice," Baby said softly when they were mere inches apart. He pushed up on the railing until he was back to standing, staring into Kyu's eyes.

"I like you too," Kyu whispered, his fingers came up to brush the dark brown hair from Baby's eyes, letting them trail along his cheek, a question.

Baby smiled, leaning into the touch, an answer. "I don't mind," he responded. "You're not like them."

Taking Baby's cheek into the palm of his hand, he guided Baby's head to tip to the side, allowing him to move in and place gentle kisses to smooth skin of his neck. He heard Baby gasp lightly, his body trembling.

Kyu wouldn't have described it as romantic, or intimate. It wasn't two lover's reconnecting, or the beginnings of a new relationship. It was dry, and chaste, two people connecting as friends, needing more than words to describe how they understood one another.

The only sounds were the rustling of clothes they hadn't bothered to remove, the gasps from between Baby's parted lips, and the low grumblings from deep within Kyu's chest.

Even as they reached their climax, the sounds were muted, soft cries that were meant for only their ears. Kyu shuddered against Baby's back who was pressed against the railing, remaining in their awkward bent position as they caught their breath.

"What does it feel like to die?" Kyu asked when they had redressed, standing at the railing.

"Like going to sleep I guess," Baby shrugged.

"What about when the children...?" Kyu frowned, not wanting to imagine being eaten alive, but was still curious.

"The same," Baby said. "They look vicious and would eat you alive, but if they catch you, they do it quickly. The first time, Leader and I watched them kill Mal, they snapped his neck and then wandered way."

"I bet it was quite a shock the first time one of you woke up after being killed," Kyu smiled wryly.

"The second day we were here, we climbed up one of the buildings and threw ourselves off," Baby shrugged. "So we knew that he'd wake up, or at least hoped he would."

"You said that the children weren't here at first? How long until they did?"

Baby took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes in thought. "It was a few weeks, back when we were keeping track. There was only one at first, but every day one more is added to the group, not that you could tell now. It wasn't until there was more than three of them that we found out what happened to them when the lights went out."

"They give me the creeps as children more than their other form," Kyu shuddered, remembering how they stalked him through the city the day before. "Do they seem familiar to you?"

"It's the eyes," Baby nodded. "The eyes are very familiar, but none of us have eyes like that."

"Or black hair," Kyu agreed. It hovered at the tip of his memory, the eyes, the hair, the voice, the name. If only he could remember. Motion at his side drew his attention as Baby was climbing over the railing. He instinctively reached out to grab his arm. "What are you doing?"

"I feel like flying today," Baby looked at him and grinned. "Don't you want to fly?"

"Fly?" Kyu looked down at the ground and then back up at Baby, frowning. "It doesn't hurt, right?"

"Nope, you won't even feel it. One minute the ground is rushing up to you, the next you're waking up on the ground," Baby assured him.

Nodding, Kyu carefully climbed over the railing to stand on the other side. With Baby's reassurance, he wasn't as scared as he would have been, but it was still unnatural to willingly jump from a perfectly stable surface.

"Let's fly then," he said softly, taking Baby's hand. Taking a deep breath, they tipped forward, letting go of the railing at the same time.

The tower was at least four or five stories high, but that distance seemed much shorter as they hurtled to the ground. It was hard for him not to close his eyes, the pavement below rushing towards them. The wind ripped at his hair and clothes, and for a brief moment, he really felt like he was flying.

A smile ghosted over his lips as he neared the end of their fall, and he closed his eyes. Baby was laughing.

"I'll catch you if you ever fall," the soft voice whispered in his ear.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am, I meant it when I said forever."

"But what if something happens? What if we find out we're not right for each other?"

"Not possible, I love you. Whatever happens, we'll get through it."

"I love you too."

"Are you ready?"

The cool pavement under Kyu's cheek was not comfortable, and chilling him to the bone. Slowly opening his eyes he looked around. The first thing he noticed was Baby lying an arm length away, their hand were still clasped together tightly. Slowly sitting up as Baby's eyes fluttered open as well.

"Morning," he smiled down at him as he got to his knees.

"So it is," Baby nodded, propping himself up on his forearms. He looked down at their conjoined hands and grinned. "How did you enjoy flying?"

"It was... exhilirating," Kyu chuckled, vaguely recalling the few seconds before they fell to their death's as it were. "I don't know how often I'd want to do that, but it was fun."

"It is fun," Baby agreed, getting to his feet and pulling Kyu up. "If I get sick of the other two enough for a day I find a building to jump off of. Beats having to hear them for a while anyway."

"You think they came looking for us yesterday?" Kyu said as the made their way out of the fenced in area and back out onto the street.

"Maybe, but they don't come this way very often and don't know about how I like to sit on the water tower. I'm sure they gave up after an hour or so and went back to Leader's," Baby shrugged. Despite what Baby had said about not caring, Kyu had seen the quirk of his lip and the slight twitch to his eye.

"So what do you want to do today then?" Kyu asked, hoping to distract from talking about the other two.

"You want to see where I live?" Baby asked, eyes lighting up and breaking out into a smile. "It's really nice, I like it a lot."

"Sure, I'd love to," Kyu smiled back. They walked slowly down the street that had brought them there the day before. It wasn't long before they were passing the craft store and the spot where they had painted the road yellow.

As expected, all that was in front of them was a long stretch of gray pavement. He didn't even have to open then shop's door to know it was just a painted wall lying just beyond.

"I think later, it'll be red," Baby said, looking down at the street.

"How about a rainbow?" Kyu tilted his head, imagining a mixed paint mess of colors running down the street.

"A rainbow? That would be pretty!" Baby nodded his head vigorously. "Definitely a rainbow next time. Will you come with me and help?"

"Sure, it's not like I have anything pressing to do," Kyu shrugged, laughing at how excited Baby looked at the idea.

"We do have to make our own fun around here," Baby said, still smiling brightly. "All those two want to do is... well you know. They don't like to go explore anymore, and don't like it when I do it by myself. Not that I'd get hurt or anything in this place, they just like to keep me around in case they get bored of each other."

"I like the idea of exploring more than that other stuff," Kyu said as they ambled down streets, different from the ones he had been down already. "Something about it just doesn't feel right, like I'm breaking a promise."

"A promise to someone with black hair?" Baby looked up at him a little sadly, biting his lip. The expression in his eyes was odd though, like he knew something.

"Maybe, anything's possible I guess," Kyu shrugged. It did no good to think about something he couldn't figure out. It was maddening how close he felt to the answer, but every approach to the problem left him with shambles of a half remembered idea.

"We're almost there," Baby said after a long silence. He was chewing on his thumb nail, worried about something and his steps were starting to slow.

"Everything okay?" Kyu said as they turned down a street lined with small square shaped houses with perfectly trimmed lawns and white fences.

"How about we go see Mal instead? My house is kind of boring, I don't spend that much time there anyway," Baby said, stopping in the middle of the street.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Kyu smiled, head tilted to the side puzzlement. "Why don't you want me to see your house now? You were so excited about it earlier."

Baby stared at him for a long stretch of silence, looking like he was ready to bolt. But his hand was still firmly grasped in Kyu's. "Oh-okay," Baby nodded and started walking again. They walked a good ways down the street, Baby turning at some point up a neat and orderly straight stone path to a front door.

Unlike the other houses that were all cookie cutter square boxes, this one was two stories and brick instead of wood slat siding. The closer he got the house, the more familiar it was to him. The feeling pressed down on him making it hard to breathe. Of every place he had been to so far, this one tugged more at his heart than at his memory.

"Well this is it, it's not much," Baby said, opening the bright red front door. They stepped inside, Baby shuffling off to the side, pointing out rooms and starting to give him a tour.

It was completely unnecessary. Kyu could have walked through this house with his eyes closed and not run into anything. He knew that the couch against the wall in the living room he hadn't been into yet would have looked better on the other wall. He knew that the railing to the stairs had to be replaced when someone tried to slide down it on the first day.

He also knew, that there were three bedrooms upstairs. He wasn't listening to Baby anymore, his eyes were drawn up the dark wood stairs. Taking small steps forward, he walked toward the stairs, Baby hovering behind.

"Um.. you want to see my room?" Baby asked as they reached the landing, tugging on Kyu's arm to lead him away from the set of double doors at the end of the hall.

"Sure," Kyu said, his eyes still trained on the doors. "Why aren't you in that room?"

"Um.. because.." Baby said, opening up a smaller door to their left. "Because it's not mine," Baby said in a small voice as he entered the small bedroom. It was blue, with a small bed tucked to the side. Kyu looked around slowly. He'd picked out this blue before.

"This... isn't your room either," he said quietly, looking back Baby. "This is just a guest room."

Baby stared at him, big brown eyes blinking in incomprehension. Kyu felt the familiarity starting to suffocate him. He was close, so close to the answer. Turning from the room, he went back out into the hall, staring at the double doors.

"Have you been in that room?" Kyu asked, slowly walking towards it knowing Baby was a step behind.

"Um.. yeah... once... when we first got here," Baby was falling back and stopped a few paces away. "But I felt like I was intruding... the other's don't go in either when they do come around."

Nodding, Kyu put his hands on the handles of the door, knowing that the left door doesn't open since he had tried to stop it from squeaking and only managed to lodge a screw in the hinge instead. Pushing the right door opened he stepped in, the memories coming crashing down onto him.

Baby stood just outside the doorway as Kyu wandered through the room.

It was a large room, dominated by a very neatly made bed with a deep green velvet comforter that felt good against bare skin. The walls were white, but beautiful paintings covered every inch of available wall space that it didn't matter. Paintings he had watched go from blank canvas to masterpieces, marveled at how anyone could create from their imagination in such a way.

To either side of the bed were small round tables with matching lamps. One table had a clock that was blinking twelve, the other a small picture frame. Stepping closer he picked up the frame, running his hand over the glass that held a picture of him and someone else. The other person's face was scratched out.

Setting the picture down, Kyu started to step away when something on the table caught his eyes. It was a tiny thing, something he had missed at first. But it meant the whole world to him. Hesitantly he reached down, fingers brushing against it and his eyes closed.

"Yes, I think I'm ready."

"Everyone's waiting for us."

"Just one minute."

"We can't keep everyone waiting."

"You said forever, right?"

"Of course, forever."

Taking his hand out of his pocket, Kyu smiled slowly.

He remembered.

Turning around he walked purposefully to Baby, grasping his head in his hands and kissed him hard on the mouth.

Pulling back, he smiled at the very confused look on Baby's face that was starting to comprehend. "Kyu....?"

"It's time to wake up," Kyu said, letting him go and moving out of the room. He didn't look back when he heard the thud of a body hitting the flooring.

He took the stairs two at a time, flying out the open door of their home and started running. He knew where he was going, now that it all made sense.

The memories were pouring through, and he would have laughed (or cried) at how silly he had been at forgetting. How could he have forgotten? How could he forget the one thing that gave him purpose?

He found the other two where he knew where they would be, lounging in bed in the small apartment.

"I remember, I remember everything," he said breathlessly, climbing onto the toward them. He reached Mal first, tipping his head back and kissing him like he had kissed Baby. For a moment Mal's hands reached for him and then fell back, trembling. He looked up at Kyu with the same look of comprehension.

"Wake up," Kyu said, letting him go as Mal's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell over. Leader looked at what happened confused, sitting up straighter.

"What..?" He started to say, but Kyu had grabbed him about the shoulder's and kissed him as well.

"Wake up, it's over," Kyu smiled, hopping off the bed and running out the door before Leader's body had fallen over onto Mal's.

Once out the door, Kyu grabbed the bike that was propped up on the wall and started to ride it down the street, towards downtown.

The bike was his, it had been a gift.

He felt like time was inconsequential as he rode, the streets and buildings melting away as he pedaled past them. How could he have not seen it before? How had he missed all the clues that had been so freely given?

It seemed mere minutes and the bike was hurdling over the path of the green zone, towards the tall building. Towards the Ark.

Jumping off the bike and letting it crash to the ground, he stumbled slightly as he ran up to the building. Throwing open the doors he entered, quickly walking through the empty room towards the terminal.

The cursor was flashing on the screen, waiting for his input. Thinking for a moment, he typed something into the keyboard and hit enter. Nothing happened for a moment and then the screen went black.

He looked up to see curtain's parting at the far end of the room, revealing an open elevator. Smiling, he ran towards it and got in, pressing the button for the only floor. The 50th. The door's closed slowly and soon the elevator was going up. Kyu watched the number's slowly rise as he waited, licking his lips in impatience. 47... 48... 49... 50.

The elevator stopped and the door's opened with a ding. Kyu stepped out, not exactly sure what he would find.

It was a large circular room, one whole half taken up by dozens of monitors that were showing different parts of the city. The dim blue lighting made it hard to see, but when his eyes adjusted, Kyu found the room to be empty.

Except for the little boy sitting in the middle of the room, staring up at the screens. Kyu sighed, smiling a little as he stepped forward. He knew the boy was aware of his presence even if he didn't look at him.

"Hello," he said, walking around the edge of the room towards the monitors. The boy slowly turned his head to look at him.

"I told you to leave me alone," the boy said.

"I'm sorry," Kyu said as he approached the first column of monitors. He hit the button on the center monitor and the whole column went dead. When the monitor's went out, a light above turned on. "I couldn't really stay away, you know that," Kyu continued on to the next column, hitting another button.

"I don't want you here," the boy said, following Kyu's movements. At the other end of the room the elevator door closed and the number's at the top started to decrease.

"You do though," Kyu said, another column went dead and another set of lights came on.

"Stop doing that," the boy said, his voice sounding angry. Or was it frightened?

"It took me a while to remember, otherwise I would have been here days ago," Kyu said, continuing around the room and turning off monitors. "But someone ran me over, distracted me."

The elevator was at the ground floor, moments later it started its ascent.

"It's funny how familiar everything seemed to me when I got here, but now I know why," Kyu said, not looking at the boy as he walked. "Mal's apartment? That was mine, in college, and then you moved in. The coffee house? Where we met. Leader's house? That one took me a while, but that was your parent's house. It wasn't that familiar since I'd only seen it once and we were thrown out shortly after arriving."

"Stop it," the boy said, the anger had dissipated, nothing but fear left in the soft voice.

"The planetarium is where we had our first kiss under the stars, we both thought it was kind of cheesy, but it worked for us. The craft store, where you bought your art supplies," Kyu smiled as he was nearing the last of the monitors.

"You'll have to tell me about the water tower though, that one I don't know," Kyu frowned, turning off the second to last column.

The elevator doors opened and children started stepping out.

"Ah, and then there was the bike. You bought that for me for my birthday last year when I said I wanted to start exercising," Kyu nodded, turning off the last column. The room was still dimly lit, the overhead lights not giving off much light.

The boy was visibly trembling, staring at Kyu with wide frightened eyes. "Why are you doing this?" He whispered.

The children were starting to surround them as Kyu moved away from the wall and toward the boy in the middle. The boy was wearing green pajamas, his feet were bare and his hair was long and unkempt. Kyu took a seat in front of him, smiling softly down at him.

"Baby's house is where things started to come together. Or should I say our house? The one we bought, the one we picked out together. Where I carried you over the threshold over my shoulder because you wouldn't let me do it the other way and you were hitting my back the entire time, yelling at me."

One of the children to his left was vibrating, he barely gave it a sparing glance as the child's form disappeared, replaced by one of the creatures. There were other's vibrating as well.

"The house where we built a life together, where you painted on days off and I sang for you while you cooked. The house that we swore we would grow old together in," Kyu took the boy's hands in his own.

"I don't want to remember," the boy whispered.

"Yes you do, or you wouldn't have let me find you," Kyu whispered back.

More and more of the children were vibrating, until roughly half of them were in their creature form. They were starting to close in.

Kyu smiled and leaned in to gently kiss the boy on the forehead.

The creature's were getting closer, he could hear the chittering and snuffling from only a few yards away.

He leaned back and opened his eyes, smiling at the man who was seated in front of him. The dark eyes hidden behind long raven bangs. Kyu reached out and gently brushed them out of the way.

"Do you know what my name is?" Kyu asked softly, letting his finger's trail down the man's cheek.

The other nodded slowly, barely leaning into the touch of the hand that was now cupping his cheek.

"What is it?" Kyu was reaching into his pocket.

Something snapped at his right side, but he didn't flinch, didn't pay it any attention.

"Please... don't..." the voice was soft, a voice that dreams were made of.

"What's my name?" Kyu asked again, pulling his hand out of his pocket and taking the man's hand in his own, sliding his finger's over it. The other looked down at the ring that was now on his hand.

"KyuJong," the man said, a small smile as he looked away from the ring and up into Kyu's eyes.

"And what did I promise you?" Kyu said, leaning in closer.

"Forever," he responded.

"Right, I promised you forever," Kyu whispered, pressing his lips gently against the other's.

A snarling noise and something was lunging from the middle of the pack.

"It's time to wake up, Love" Kyu said, pulling back, holding the man's face in both hands. "It's time to wake up, YoungSaeng."

Eyes widening, YoungSaeng opened his mouth, remembering. "Oh."

Kyu closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss him again.

~

KyuJong's eyes fluttered open, the visor blocking his view of the ceiling. He pulled it off his head and sat up on the bed, pulling at the sticky sensors stuck to his chest and arms. There was movement out of the corner of his eye, the redhead was sitting up as well, rubbing at his head and pulling off the sensors.

Turning he looked over the five beds that were arrayed, the others were waking up as well.

Finally free of the tangle of wires, KyuJong slid off the bed and moved to the bed on his right, the one who wasn't moving yet. Pulling off the visor covering the eyes that were still closed, KyuJong removed the sensor's from YoungSaeng's body.

When finished, he leaned over the man, gently stroking his cheek. "Wake up YoungSaeng," he said softly.

YoungSaeng's eyes opened slowly, blinking several times before comprehending what he was seeing. "Kyu?" He asked hoarsely, smiling a little. "I had the strangest dream," he said, closing his eyes and started to rub at them.

"Really?" KyuJong smiled, pulling a stool out from under the bed and sitting down, leaning on the bed and staring down at him. "Why don't you tell me about it."

The four men sat around the table pouring over stacks of reports, the only sound was the tapping of a pen against paper that was held in the redhead's hand.

"Do you mind?" HyungJun snapped, looking up for what he was reading. "I can't concentrate with that incessant noise."

"Too bad," JungMin sniffed, not looking up, tapping the pen harder.

"Stop," HyungJun glared, reaching for his own pen.

"What, you going to cry if I don't?" JungMin looked up at him, sneering.

"No, I'm going to chuck this at your head," HyungJun had the pen in his hand.

"Fuck off, crybaby," JungMin snorted.

"Bite me, whore," HyungJun raised up his hand to toss the pen.

"Both of you shut up," HyunJoong slammed the report he'd been looking at on the table, glancing between the two of them. "You're acting like children and we have work to do."

HyungJun sighed heavily and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. "All this reading is getting us nowhere. It's not hard to guess what happened and all these test results don't tell us anything useful."

"Oh, so you've figured out then? Why don't you share then?" HyunJoong sat back as well, staring at HyungJun.

"YoungSaeng was the constructor right? He got distracted, lost control, and got sucked into the program and pulled the rest of us with him," HyungJun said, looking at the rest of them.

"And what exactly distracted him then?" HyunJoong leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"Oh come on, do I really need to say it?" HyungJun laughed, throwing a glare in JungMin's direction. "Whatever it was that he and SlutMin here were doing locked up in the guest room the night before."

JungMin froze, his eyes went wide and looked immediately to where the fourth one of the group had been sitting quietly, focusing on the reports.

"Smooth HyungJun," HyunJoong glared and shook his head at the younger before turning to KyuJong.

"It's alright," KyuJong said mildly, closing the report and setting it on the table. "I knew about it, even before we went in. That's not what happened," he said, looking at HyungJun who had shrunk back in his seat. KyuJong looked to HyunJoong and then at JungMin who was staring at the table, rolling the pen in his fingers.

"Kyu..." HyunJoong started, but was cut off when KyuJong held up his hand.

"Here is what we know," KyuJong said, folding his hands together and resting them on the table. "The experiment started as it should have. YoungSaeng constructed the restaurant as we had planned, the three of you as the "patients" were in your subconscious states. When I arrived to start the therapy session, something went wrong."

"He got distracted," HyungJun repeated himself, glaring at JungMin.

"No," KyuJong said, his lips forming a thin line. "Even if he was distracted, the program doesn't work like that. At least it's not supposed to. This is why we are here, reading over these reports."

"So... it was a programming error then?" HyunJoong pursed his lips, flipping through pages of the technical readout.

"Most likely yes," KyuJong nodded, looking down at the table. "Considering it was the first run, they are considering it a success and want to begin more trials; after they figure out the error of course."

"A success?" HyungJun blinked at him. "We were trapped in YoungSaeng's mind, how is that a success?"

"According to the higher ups, the experiment proved to be a feasible option for therapy, as long as we can get it to work properly," KyuJong shrugged. He himself didn't understand it, but the management didn't believe that there would problems in the future.

"So what now?" JungMin said, looking up with a solemn look.

"Now we have to through the program line by line and figure out the error. We've been given a two week mandatory vacation first though," HyunJoong said, flipping the report closed. "They also suggested we see a counselor."

"What for?" HyungJun asked, puzzled.

"To work on getting over what happened inside," HyunJoong said, frowning lightly at HyungJun.

"Did... they.. watch?" JungMin asked quietly, looking from HyunJoong to KyuJong, biting his lip.

"The recorders stopped when YoungSaeng disappeared," HyunJoong shook his head. "The only people who know what happened is the five of us."

"Has he said anything?" HyungJun looked at KyuJong, a worried expression.

"Not really, no. Unlike you three, he had his memories," KyuJong sighed, twisting the ring on his finger as he thought. "I don't think he'll be coming back to work for a while."

The other three nodded silently. They had been trapped in the program for five hours, but every minute had been a day inside. While the three of them had no idea what was going on, or who they were, they had each other at least.

YoungSaeng had trapped himself inside the Ark with his memories and further receded into himself the more time went on.

"I think seeing a counselor would be a good idea," HyunJoong said after a stretch of silence, glancing at HyungJun who was chewing on his thumbnail and avoiding his eyes.

"Whatever you decide," HyungJun said quietly, looking back at him after a moment, smiling a little hesitantly.

"Well, I don't think we're going to get much more work done today, so let's call it a day and we'll meet back here in a couple weeks then," KyuJong said and the other's nodded. They left the reports on the table and left the room.

"KyuJong?" JungMin knocked at KyuJong's open office door and the older man looked up from packing up his bag. "I know it doesn't mean much, and you probably hate me right now. Well.. who doesn't in this place," JungMin sighed, leaning against the door frame. "But, I'm sorry for what happened, and for what I did to YoungSaeng."

Pursing his lips, KyuJong closed up his bag and stood, walking towards him. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't furious when I found out," KyuJong stopped in front of the redhead. "But, it happened, and we all just need to move on."

"Being inside YoungSaeng's mind like that... knowing that our personalities were in part a projection of how he thought of us," JungMin sighed, looking down. "It's given me a great deal to think about. Everyone knows what happened with HyunJoong and HyungJun, and how it was all my fault... well I didn't care about what happened. I was just out for me you know? But... if that's really how people see me, just some sex crazed idiot..." He trailed off, glowering at his shoes.

KyuJong looked at JungMin for a long moment with an unreadable expression before he sighed and nodded. "No one can tell you who or what to be JungMin, but you're not an idiot. You are an accomplished scientist and colleague. You just... have some personality flaws." KyuJong half smiled, patting the man on the shoulder. "Despite it being an accident, I think at least in part, the program did its job."

"That's one way to look at it I guess," JungMin snorted, glancing up at KyuJong and nodding. "Thanks. And tell YoungSaeng that I'm sorry."

"I will," KyuJong squeezed his shoulder and left the room, the younger man tagging along. They passed by HyunJoong's office, KyuJong glanced in and smiled. HyunJoong was sitting on his desk, HyungJun standing between his knees. They were talking in a hushed tone, hands intertwined and HyungJun leaned down to kiss him. "Interesting," he murmured, glancing at JungMin who was smiling as well.

"I guess HyungJun really did forgive him," JungMin said as they continued to walk down the hall.

"That's good, it had been a rough couple of months with the two of them at odds," KyuJong said, looking at JungMin. "Now, with this revelation of yours I do hope you'll stop chasing after HyunJoong."

"Yeah, I think I'm done trying to mess up people's lives," JungMin smirked. They reached the end of the hall to the doors to the outside, JungMin stopping and putting his hands in his pockets. "See you in a couple weeks then."

"Yup, a couple weeks," KyuJong nodded and walked out.

\--------

Pulling into the driveway, KyuJong parked the car and turned off the engine. For a few moments he stared at the house, reliving the last few moments that he had spent inside the program, how their home had brought back the memories to bring them out. He smiled sadly and opened the door, picking up his bag from the side seat and getting out.

It had been three days since the experiment had ended. After numerous tests they had been released to go home, and YoungSaeng had curled up in bed the moment they had arrived, barely leaving unless he had to. KyuJong had made sure he was fed and hydrated, but the older man still hadn't said much.

Unlocking the front door he stepped inside and put his bag down in the entryway, slipping off his shoes and immediately going up the stairs towards their bedroom. It pained him to see the person he loved more than anything to be in this state, and that he could only do so much to help him.

Slowly opening the door to their room, he smiled sadly at the curled up form under the comforter. He hadn't moved since KyuJong had left that morning. Slipping off his shit, KyuJong slid under the blankets and curled up next to YoungSaeng, wrapping his long arm around the other's waist and pulling him close.

"They hate me, don't they," came a whispered voice from under the blankets, so soft he almost missed it. Sitting up, KyuJong pulled the blankets back to uncover YoungSaeng's tired and drawn face.

"They don't hate you, it wasn't your fault," KyuJong said, tugging on his shoulder to roll YoungSaeng onto his back to face him. Complying, YoungSaeng looked up at KyuJong, the tears starting to brim in his eyes again.

"Of course it's my fault, I lost control," YoungSaeng whispered, the tears running away from the corner of his eyes down his temple and into his hair.

"It wasn't your fault," KyuJong repeated again. "There was an error in the programming. You got caught in it, it could have happened to any of you."

"But it happened to me, and I could have stopped it," YoungSaeng's lip was trembling.

"No, you couldn't have done anything to prevent it, Love," KyuJong leaned down to kiss those trembling lips. His hand came up to smooth over YoungSaeng's hair as the older man kissed him back feverishly.

It was a long few quiet moments before KyuJong pulled back, smiling down at him. "It wasn't your fault," he whispered, staring into the deep black eyes.

"I... I have something to tell you," YoungSaeng bit his lip, staring back with a furrowed brow and was picking at the comforter with nervous fingers. "The night before the experiment... when we were all here.. drinking..."

"I know," KyuJong put a finger to his lips, quieting him. "I know about you and JungMin. I knew about it that night. When I woke up and you weren't in bed with me, I looked for you."

"I don't blame you if you want to leave me," YoungSaeng closed his eyes and tried to turn away but KyuJong held him tight.

"Did I say I wanted to leave you?" KyuJong said, bring YoungSaeng's face back to look at him with a hand at his cheek.

"No-"

"What did I promise you?" KyuJong smiled, stroking his cheek with his thumb.

"Kyu..."

"What did I promise you?" KyuJong repeated, softer as he leaned down a little.

"Forever," YoungSaeng sighed softly, a hesitant smile.

"And I meant forever," KyuJong murmured, pressing their lips together again.

He pulled the comforter up over their heads and YoungSaeng squealed. "Kyu~!"


End file.
